Nine Years
by Tumblr Ate My Soul
Summary: She receives a letter, months later, saying: "you're nine years younger than me". NextGen Teddy/OC Please, review


A/N: All right, this is a one-shot and it features a Teddy/OC pairing. Please Review :)

Enjoy,

TAMS

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He just stands there and she prays he'll show some compassion. She prays he'll show a bit of humanity. She knows he won't. Because she's just a little girl and he's a big boy and there was never room for anyone other than the Weasleys and Potters and his grandparents, no one other even comes close to jumping his walls.

She wishes she were Victorie Weasley. And then she rethinks her wish. She doesn't want to be Victorie; she doesn't think her very pretty as some people do, she's appalled by her rudeness and she knows she's so much smarter, the only thing Victorie (she drawls her name in her mind, just because) has that she wants is HIM.

He says: "you're nine years younger than me" and she turns around and goes to the Library, the aisle with the History of Magic books where no one goes, and cries her little heart out, wipes the tears off, stands, goes back to her common room and vows to forget about it. She's just thirteen, how hard could it be?

The name Teddy Lupin turns into a curse and she shakes at the very mention of it.

When she turns fifteen she decides, for sure, that she hates, despises the Weasley bunch. Well, Molly's OK but that's it. And Hugo's so nice you forget he's related to Rose (now it's that name that gets drawled in her mind, too, Teddy's not around anymore and Victorie's somewhere with him).

She wonders when she got so bitter. Because she just feels so much pain and she keeps snapping at people and, coincidentally Scorpius and Molly are the only ones still talking to her. Scorpius doesn't understand that he's hurting her even more than Teddy did, two years ago (he's her friend and they've known each other since they were babies and she feels it like a betrayal that he chose a Weasley). And that, as long as he's near, she'll continue hurting. So, one day, she yells at him, hurling hurtful words and shoving him away in a last resort try to save herself from burning down.

He never speaks to her again and becomes a scar on her already too maimed little heart. She writes to Teddy and burns the letters. He's not around and she's missing him but she'll never show weakness again.

Her first kiss comes at the age of seventeen; while everyone else loses heir virginity and she almost breaks when she hears, from Lily and Roxanne giggling in the girls' bathroom, about it being a dare. She starts shaking but, it's OK because they don't know she's there and nobody knows that was her first kiss. That's when her last shred of hope for a fairytale ending disappears, because she never even thought the nice, kind Hugo would be the cruellest of them all. She sends a letter to Teddy saying: "Don't they understand you already broke me?"

She completely retreats and closes off. Her heart freezes over and she's numb. When the school ends, all of their names become the ones she drawls in her mind and she gladly goes far, far away, never to see any of them again. She receives a letter, months later, saying: "you're nine years younger than me".

The men she works with consider her a frigid bitch but, she's the best at what she does and they're delighted to even get the opportunity to come close to her. She's beautiful and it prompts each and every one of the men that cross her path to try and melt her heart. None of them succeeds. One day, she gets called back, her father died. She barely gathers the strength. She's a Zabini, the daughter of Blaise and Millicent Zabini, two proud Slytherins and Slytherins have always been the ones to know how to cope. Her mother won't cry and she won't cry but she'll still feel and her emotions tend to overwhelm her sometimes so she's a bit scared. She writes to him, asking him to be there and doesn't receive an answer. She gets a letter from Molly asking if she's OK to which she doesn't answer.

They're all there, the Malfoys, the Weasleys, the Potters. She comes over to say hi and hugs Molly, her only friend left in the world. Molly shows off her ring and asks her to be the made of honour at her and Lysander's wedding and she agrees, wholeheartedly, because she's grateful to Molly for her attempt at a distraction. Unfortunately, she's way too aware and Molly sighs when she realises her eyes follow, sometimes Teddy, sometimes Scorpius, sometimes others, always the ones that kept ripping her up. Molly sighs again and hugs her tightly. As she lets go, Molly keeps holding her hand, sometimes that's all you can do.

The ceremony ends and Teddy approaches. He shuffles his feet and she inspects his ring finger. He's not married to Victorie. She's surprised. He looks at her and smiles and she starts laughing, the high pitched hysterical laugh. He waits it out and then says: "you're nine years younger than me". She stops laughing and says: "I know".

He kisses her.


End file.
